Completed Set: German States EK2 equivilants for enlisted men

[ww1czechlegion]

Hi Guys,

I was inspired this past year by the wonderful pinned reference thread on German States EK2 Equivalents started by Jesse that revolves around Dave Danner's fantastic scholarly information that breaks down the EK2 equivalents for the German States: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=226593

A few of these are quite difficult to find, and it was hard to be patient looking for them each and every day online, checking multiple sources. The Saxe-Altenburg Bravery Medal (in Bronze, and not the more commonly found zinc version) and the Waldeck Silver Merit Medal with Swords were quite elusive for me in my search. As a side note, a collector friend talked me out of my first Waldeck example for an offer I couldn't refuse, and it took me 6-months to find another example.

I still need to find a full-size original ribbon for the Schaumburg-Lippe Cross for Loyal Service.

It will be a much more expensive challenge completing the equivalents for Lieutenants. I look forward to completing that task one day in the future.

I look forward to your comments.

Thanks,

Alan

Here they are, from left to right, starting at the top row:

1. Anhalt: Friedrich Cross
2. Baden: Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order
3. Bavaria: Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with Swords
4. Brunswick: War Merit Cross 2nd Class
5. Hesse: General Honor Decoration "For Bravery"
6. Hohenzollern: Silver Honor Medal with Swords of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern
7. Lippe-Detmold: War Merit Cross
8. Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Military Merit Cross 2nd Class
9. Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Cross for Distinction in War, "Brave and Loyal"
10. Oldenburg: Friedrich August Cross 2nd Class
11. Prussia: Iron Cross 2nd Class
12. Reuss: Silver Merit Medal with Swords
13. Saxony: Bronze Friedrich August Medal
14. Saxe-Altenburg: Bravery Medal
15. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha: Silver Merit Medal with Swords Clasp of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order
16. Saxe-Meiningen: Honor Medal for Merit in War
17. Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: General Honor Decoration in Bronze with Clasp and Swords
18. Schaumburg Lippe: Cross for Loyal Service
19. Schwarzburg: Silver Medal for Merit in War
20. Waldeck: Silver Merit Medal with Swords
21. Württemberg: Silver Military Merit Medal
22. Bremen: Hanseatic Cross
23. Hamburg: Hanseatic Cross
24. Lübeck: Hanseatic Cross

[Don D.]

Great job.

[streptile]

I've often thought about giving this a whirl myself. Looks great.

[Alan Wilson]

Very nice. I am currently working on my set. Hopefully one day.

[Alan]

Well done and Welcome to the club Alan!

It is always great to see a fellow member achieve their collecting goal.

[JustinG]

Congratulations on achieving your goal. This looks awesome.

Regards,
JustinG

[Jesse]

Well done Alan, it's a great but often troublesome quest. I am still looking to replace my zinc Saxe Altenburg with a Bronze one. The Saxe Coburg was the hardest for me, I saw them, but either to beat up or too expensive, in the end I got the right one but it took 8 months of looking for that piece.

I am trying to avoid the slippery slope of officers, but who knows in the future.

Jesse

[ww1czechlegion]

Thanks Don, Trevor, Alan, Alan Wilson, Justin, and Jesse! You guys are a great inspiration!

I am trying to avoid the slippery slope of officers, but who knows in the future. by Jesse

I understand Jesse, it's hard for me to avoid not adding the 10-others needed to make a Junior Officer Set as well. My "slippery slope" is the large investment of money for these other ones that I don't have yet. They each involve a considerable larger cost per piece than most of the individual Enlisted Ranks Set Awards require. Those enamel awards certainly are addictive, however!

I'm now waiting on my Saxe-Meiningen Honor Cross for Merit in War to arrive in the mail. Fortunately I already have the Bavarian MVO 3rd Class w/Swords. Those are the two least expensive to acquire. I can guarantee that I won't have the other 9-needed awards in a year's time to complete a Junior Officer Set. It will take me a whole lot longer than it did to put this set together!

All the Best

Alan

[Valter Gorenc]

Well done, impressive array! I'm on that road too, still need Hohenzollern, Waldeck, Strelitz, Co-Go and Weimar; I guess these are the hardest to find and most expensive...

[Dave Danner]

Very nice!

You still have me beat, as I still haven't gotten a Silver Merit Medal of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order with Swords from Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. I do have the gold one, though.

Valter, I'd agree that Waldeck is probably the hardest, and most expensive, of all of these, which makes sense, given its size and that it did not have a single award for all ranks. Schaumburg-Lippe was the only state smaller than Waldeck, and its Cross for Loyal Service was awarded to all ranks.

For junior officers, I would say that Waldeck and Schwarzburg are the hardest to get (I only have an SEK3X on a medal bar). I got the WVK3X and WVK4X both in an auction years ago, and they probably cost me more than all the enlisted ones combined. And, technically, you really need two for Schwarzburg, since the badges from Rudolstadt and Sondershausen had different ciphers, though I won't complain if you just look for one (more for the rest of us). At least Reuss junior Line and Reuss senior Line used the same badge.

Dave

[muzrub]

What a fantastic, fun idea.

The range of colours and medal forms make for an eye catching display.

Thanks for showing. I'll take a screen shot (if you don't mind) for future reference.

Cheers,

Jamie

[Chip M]

I'm not really a medals guy, but I sure can appreciate the effort it takes to put together sets of items that are all not that easy to find. Congratulations Alan. It's always fun to have a reachable collecting goal. Many of mine are not likely to ever be completed (but that doesn't stop me).

Chip

[Jesse]

Thanks Don, Trevor, Alan, Alan Wilson, Justin, and Jesse! You guys are a great inspiration!



I understand Jesse, it's hard for me to avoid not adding the 10-others needed to make a Junior Officer Set as well. My "slippery slope" is the large investment of money for these other ones that I don't have yet. They each involve a considerable larger cost per piece than most of the individual Enlisted Ranks Set Awards require. Those enamel awards certainly are addictive, however!

I'm now waiting on my Saxe-Meiningen Honor Cross for Merit in War to arrive in the mail. Fortunately I already have the Bavarian MVO 3rd Class w/Swords. Those are the two least expensive to acquire. I can guarantee that I won't have the other 9-needed awards in a year's time to complete a Junior Officer Set. It will take me a whole lot longer than it did to put this set together!

All the Best

Alan

Alan, I know exactly what you mean. I have a couple of the enamel beauties but my pockets are not deep enough to chase the rest, though the chase itself sure is fun. I was so happy the day I completed the enlisted set and displayed them one by one to my wife. She looked at me like I was mad. I guess women just don't fully get the collecting bug!

I have to blame Dave for all this though, If he had not perfectly explained it on the original post I would have never had enough understanding to start the task. In all seriousness we all need to thank him for his astounding knowledge and experience that he always offers up here.

Completing is great fun and sometimes very frustrating, but well worth it in the end as the fantastic images show.

Jess